The invention relates to a grip arrangement for a medical instrument, wherein the instrument has a handle with two substantially rod-shaped grip parts which each have a grip surface.
The invention further relates to an aforementioned medical instrument.
The DE company brochure by the company Karl Storz GmbH & Co. KG, STORZ—Karl Storz Endoskope, volume “Endoskopische Chirurgie” [Endoscopic surgery], 2nd edition 1/94, page NH 3A, discloses a medical instrument in the form of a needle holder whose handle has two rod-shaped grip parts of very slender construction, i.e. having a small cross section in relation to their length. The circumferential surface formed on each grip part and serving as a grip surface is correspondingly small. The grip parts of this known instrument could therefore be regarded as not being optimal from the ergonomic point of view, because the overall grip surface of the grip parts of this instrument is small in relation to the inner surface of the hand of the person using the instrument.
The handle of such an instrument is not only designed so that the instrument can be held in the hand: the grip parts of such an instrument are usually designed to be movable relative to one another so that, by actuating the grip parts, it is possible to operate a tool, for example jaw parts, at the distal end of the instrument. Operating the tool at the distal end of the instrument by means of the grip parts at the proximal end generally requires a firm hold, which is influenced in turn by the ergonomic properties of the grip parts. There is therefore a need to improve the ergonomics of the aforementioned instrument and in particular to adapt them to the particular needs and requirements of the physician.
In addition, medical instruments are known whose handle or handgrip can be removed as a complete unit from the shaft of the instrument, as is described for example in DE 198 60 444 A1. These are complete handles or handgrips which are accordingly also equipped with a force transmission mechanism for actuating the tool at the distal end of the instrument. With removable handles of this kind, it is of course possible to adapt the particular instrument to the particular needs of the operating physician by changing the handgrip for another one, but complete handles of this kind have a complex structure and are expensive if several sets of such handles of different size and shape are to be kept ready.